Wando Camp: Where Moths Go to Die

Today was the first day of orientation, proceeded (of course) by the second round of swine flu check-ups. We stood in line again to have our temperature taken, and I was slightly bothered that one of the nurses was sitting down at the table, texting with her mask off while the other was working. When she was finished, of course she put the mask back on.

"Temperature is 36.7 degrees."

"Okay."

"Sore throat? Muscle ache?"

"No."

"Runny nose?"

"I feel great."

Afterwards, we sat and learned a bit about how the camps work, received our teaching materials, and got a lesson in Korean culture by Suk Su "Steve" Kim, a charming man who spoke poorly of his English, even though he wildly succeeded in being quite funny (sometimes even when we wasn't trying). After a while, I stopped taking notes from the powerpoint presentation, and started writing down quotes.

On kimchi:
"No one in South Korea has died of swine flu...because of kimchi."

On democracy in South Korea:
"Too much democratic now. That's my opinion."

On Confucius:
"I read his book. Not his book, his disciples' books. Many times. Very useful."

On Buddhism:
"Two kinds of sects. Not sex, sects."

On the benefits of chopsticks:
"So if you want plastic surgery, I can recommend some doctors. Koreans have good hands because of chopsticks."

It hasn't really sunk in yet that I'm in Korea. Perhaps it's because of the quarantine, or maybe it's because the camp is in such a rural area. After orientation I had a small adventure. A friend and I walked up to the roof and then a group of us decided to walk through town to the beach. I'm not sure if that violated quarantine since we left the camp, but we didn't make contact with any locals except to respond to a man who cheerfully said hello as he passed by.






I expected town to be more modern, so I was surprised to learn that many of the blue and orange topped buildings were small metal houses or stalls for cows. The couple townspeople we saw were farming, and there were more tractors parked in yards than cars on the roads. The only buildings I saw that looked non-residential were a church, complete with a electric, red-colored cross on top, and a gas station that may not have even been in operation. Wando is vibrant green and foggy around the edges, almost as if the plants were overgrown and taking over a quiet, sleepy town. It's beautiful and provincial, but I'll be happy to see city again.





The beach was pretty in a way, but somehow desolate looking. Rocks covered everything out to the ocean, and glass and other industrial trash were thrown into it. I decided not to walk out on it, and was glad of it -- two girls cut their feet somehow, and it was a long walk uphill. I returned back to camp one of the last of our group, drenched in sweat and tired, but so happy to have done something to occupy my time.

People are saying the Korean staff are trying to set up a projector for us to watch movies on, which would be amazing. Right now all I want is to relax, watch a movie, and eat some ice cream.